Living in the Western World Part 3

Just think, while in high school and living in the Palo Alto area, about the importance of education and the pressure in being admitted to the most prestigious university.  Each individual has their own aspiration, ranking system within their own milieu. Being first or the top of your class can be a success. However, coming in lower can be a failure with a mighty blow as to self-esteem. In sports, being ranked as a five-star athlete or being ranked as a three star athlete can also be problematic.

 Employing an example of a family or brother, competitive ranking from the NBA, can be made by comparing the younger brother Seth Curry with older brother Stephen Curry. How does this younger brother measure up in basketball aspirations and his degree of self-esteem to MVP, and world champion brother Stephen?  The answer is obvious. Seth can’t compete or dominate as a professional basketball player as his brother. Seth’s frustration, negative hostile feelings and fear of failure are part of his self-esteem. His ideal is based on reaching Stephan’s unbelievable skill and achievement.  That’s an example of a bar being set in the stratosphere and impossible to master or meet. Seth’s attitude of self is very different than his older brother. Likewise, his confidence is also very different. On the other hand Stephan’s high self-esteem and tremendous confidence go hand-in-hand. Further, he’s handled his fear of failure remarkably well. Likewise, this 30-year-old superstar is likable, as well as humble.

Rankings, polls, discussions about dynasties are frequent in the many radio and TV programs related to sports. Who was the greatest coach, quarterback, basketball player, team etc. gets replayed over and over. Further, the tendency to diminish or minimize loss or failure to self-esteem is great because of the unpleasantness of anxiety, along with all the negatives which are detrimental self-appraisals. In essence, one’s reference group can have an unbelievable high bar. A high bar can affect one’s level of aspiration and the probability of success. Success and performance breeds success, while poor performance or failure breeds despair, unworthiness and feelings of being inferior. As life is filled with experiences, and experience affects one’s perception of oneself, we carry our self-esteem to the grave.

To Be Continued

Living in the Western World Part 2

Since my birthday, I have been thinking about a few dynamics pertaining to Homo sapiens In our Western culture. This brief post is an overview of those dynamics. For instance, generally speaking, life as an embryo can be or not be idyllic- i.e. drug use, alcohol use, tobacco use and congenital complications. However, regardless of race, socioeconomics, when the umbilical cord, at birth is cut, things dramatically change and that has been referred to as the trauma of birth. The helpless and dependent infant experiences a tension or anxiety state and is totally at the mercy for his survival from an individual in the environment. Feeding, warmth, rocking, etc. assist in the physiological drive or anxiety reduction. This helplessness, dependence and insignificance exists for quite some time, along with varying degrees of an accompanying unpleasantness or anxiety state. We start out with the unpleasantness of tension and then its various degrees of reduction and then pleasure. Hopefully, we learn to trust ourselves and to trust others in this initial fluid and changing process.

Competition, competitiveness or mastery follows. Initially, our physiological needs require to be met or reduced. This is followed by competing with others for food, safety, warmth, attention, etc. Others can include siblings, parents, and significant others. In school, there is competition, within the peer group, academics, play, sports, friendships, etc. With competition, results with a tendency for mastery and dominance.

However, mastery, and dominance is also accompanied by hostility and aggression unfortunately directed toward another. Our culture is all about winning, as a second-place finish is considered being the first loser. Winning or being the best is taught extremely early and lasts a lifetime. Take a look at any college coach, and their facial expressions and their body language tell a story of uncomfortableness, anxiety and hostility. Winning is synonymous with success and losing with failure.

To Be Continued

Living in the Western World

Since my birthday, I have been thinking about a few dynamics pertaining to Homo sapiens In our Western culture. This brief post is an overview of those dynamics. For instance, generally speaking, life as an embryo can be or not be idyllic- i.e. drug use, alcohol use, tobacco use and congenital complications. However, regardless of race, socioeconomics, when the umbilical cord, at birth is cut, things dramatically change and that has been referred to as the trauma of birth. The helpless and dependent infant experiences a tension or anxiety state and is totally at the mercy for his survival from an individual in the environment. Feeding, warmth, rocking, etc. assist in the physiological drive or anxiety reduction. This helplessness, dependence and insignificance exists for quite some time, along with varying degrees of an accompanying unpleasantness or anxiety state. We start out with the unpleasantness of tension and then its various degrees of reduction and then pleasure. Hopefully, we learn to trust ourselves and to trust others in this initial fluid and changing process.

Competition, competitiveness or mastery follows. Initially, our physiological needs require to be met or reduced. This is followed by competing with others for food, safety, warmth, attention, etc. Others can include siblings, parents, and significant others. In school, there is competition, within the peer group, academics, play, sports, friendships, etc. With competition, results with a tendency for mastery and dominance.

However, mastery, and dominance is also accompanied by hostility and aggression unfortunately directed toward another. Our culture is all about winning, as a second-place finish is considered being the first loser. Winning or being the best is taught extremely early and lasts a lifetime. Take a look at any college coach, and their facial expressions and their body language tell a story of uncomfortableness, anxiety and hostility. Winning is synonymous with success and losing with failure.

To Be Continued

Emotional Well-Being Part 2

During a recent interview, this professor remained publicly neutral on his personal views regarding Donald J. Trump. He was reported as saying, “I hope I last long enough to write this one up.” Unfortunately, the professor died at 88 years of age on December 3 at his home in Princeton, New Jersey.

Addendum

Briefly, Emotional Intelligence, [E I] was coined in the 1960s and became more popular in the 1990s. An EI definition “the ability to monitor one’s own and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.” Subsequent research found that EI was positively correlated with: “1. Better social relations for children. 2. Better social relations for adults. 3. Highly EI individuals are perceived more positively by others. 4. Better family and intimate relationships. 5. Better academic achievement. 6. Better social relations during work performance and in negotiations. 7. Better psychological well-being. 8. Allows for self-compassion.”

Other researchers have been critical of the term. Arguments against the term: “1. it cannot be recognized as a form of intelligence. 2. Confuses skills with moral qualities. 3. Has little predictive value.” 4. It measures a number of other psychological constructs like personality ,empathy and general intelligence. However, the idea that one can become more conscious, coupled with the ability to label their emotions or feelings is valuable. The idea that being able to understand emotions of others as in empathy is important. The idea that emotions interfere with rational thinking is also relevant, imploring examples related to politics, marriage and religion.

In essence, I found that in my professional and personal experience, most people have great difficulty labeling and mistaking their own emotions buy being unable to distinguish a thought from a feeling. Further, anxiety and anger easily surface and impede, like a barrier with rational thought. Socrates and Plato were cognizant of the importance and power `of “Know thyself” a long time ago. Let’s refer to it as emotional well-being.

Emotional Well-Being

Prof. Fred Greenstein recently passed per the New York Times, December 16, 2018. Dr. Greenstein taught politics at Yale, Wesleyan and Princeton. Notably, he wrote and evaluated many of our presidents beginning with Franklin Delano Roosevelt. When he arrived at Princeton, Nixon was president, and Greenstein stated, how anyone could as politically gifted as president, Richard M Nixon end up “Succumbing to what was plainly a self-inflicted political disaster?”

At one time, Dwight Eisenhower was perceived as a disengaged golf playing president. Prof. Greenstein began thinking about a president’s effectiveness as a leader, rather than by their policies or accomplishments. This professor devised a checklist of six qualities or criterion used to evaluate a president. These criteria included: public communication; organizational capacity; political skills; vision; cognitive style; and emotional intelligence. He believed that emotional intelligence was the most important and can be found in his book “The Presidential Difference: Leadership Style from FDR to Clinton.”

While researching material about Pres. Eisenhower, the professor changed the current view regarding this president. Dr. Greenstein concluded that various memos that Eisenhower had dictated off the top of his head were extremely well reasoned and well written. Not only that, he believed that Eisenhower was a deep and careful thinker and politically skillful somewhat like Machiavellian. He also believed that Eisenhower’s poor communication skills were well calculated and deliberately vague in order to appear more genial. However, behind his comments, Eisenhower was in full control. He was pulling strings and manipulating his subordinates. In other words, he was willing to play the fool to achieve his political ends.

Regarding emotional intelligence, Dr. Greenstein believed that intelligence can be measured by “the president’s ability to manage his emotions and turn them to constructive purposes, rather than being dominated by them and allowing them to diminish his leadership.” Regarding President Clinton’s second term, which centered around impeachment, the professor wrote, that without emotional intelligence “The presidency is a defective instrument of democratic governance.”

To Be Continued

Decision-Making Part 2

In essence, this physical and muscle activity guideline apparently is not very difficult to achieve. One doesn’t even have to go to the gym and become a gym rat. In fact, one can clean the house, rake leaves, park at a greater distance for shopping, go dancing, go bird watching, tote   groceries, ride a bike, etc. All these choices can add to better health with increased longevity.

The fact that the majority of Americans are either overweight or obese and do not accomplish minimum activity guidelines suggests the following. Let me provide one example of a friend who has a high BMI index and overweight. He recently told me that his health was good because of his low blood pressure. This suggests that his conclusion about his health was incorrect because of his anxiety, rationalization and denial of all the negative health conditions related to being overweight. Or, is this intelligent man simply unaware or ignorant of the association between weight and health?  No, because in another conversation, my friend told me that he needs to reduce sugar and carbohydrate intake. One might ask, how can anyone, with all the information provided, be unaware of the health risks of improper eating and lack of exercise? If one is not unaware of the risks and goes ahead incorporating or leading a poor lifestyle, then perhaps, one has an unconscious death wish, aggression turned inward, need for abasement and has given up. There is definitely an inhibition pertaining to healthy eating behavior. Certainly, if one has ill health and not doing much to change that condition, then I can understand of not wanting to live. Who wants to live with exacerbated health issues during the aging process?

 One study suggested that DNA accounted for less than 10% related to longevity. As a result, maintaining a desire to live while being healthy is determined by choices in the area of foods consumed and physical activity. Therefore, recommendations include incorporating as many positive associations between food and food consumption along with proper physical activity. Consistency is paramount because man is irrational, short term pleasure seeking, provides many excuses for himself like employing cognitive dissonance, and defense mechanisms like denial and rationalization. Man can and does justify any topic or self-behavior under the sun especially regarding eating and exercise.

As I have been advising for years, keep moving.

Decision-Making

Statistics regarding longevity, in the United States has not significantly changed for either males or females within the last 10 years. I frequently found articles pertaining to wellness or health in the New York Times and other written materials. For instance, in the November 25, 2018 edition of the New York Times, there was an article titled “The Nose Knows.” In this article, researchers in Stockholm, Sweden evaluated the association between breathing and recall or short-term memory. Previous research indicated that breathing through the nose or belly breathing was pertinent when it came to cognition, yoga and relaxation. In this particular research, the researchers compared nasal breathing to mouth breathing with the ability to recall various smells. Their findings added to the literature on how breathing affected cognition. Briefly, nasal breathing was found to be significantly superior when it came to detecting odors as far as short-term memory. Unfortunately, we can’t, as of yet, conclude that nasal breathing is superior to long-term memory regarding odors. However, we can conclude that there are many benefits when it comes to breathing through the nose like relaxation and cognition.

A second article, “When It Comes to Exercise, Every Movement Counts” was found in the December 10, 2018 edition of Time. This article, pointed out the relationship of movement to exercise. According to the new federal guidelines, it urged adults to perform 75 minutes of vigorous or 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity each week plus muscle strengthening activities. Apparently, only about one fourth of Americans accomplish this. Further, one fourth of Americans sit for more than eight hours a day. A Study in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society found that each 30 minute chunk of light activities was linked to a 20% lower risk of dying early compared to more sedentary peers. Another study found that each additional half-hour of light physical activity, such as walking or gardening lowered the risk of early death by 17%.

To Be Continued

PS

I suffered an overuse injury to my calf in mid-December. I visited the Monster of Massage and with rest entered the 10 mile trail Resolution Run on New Year’s with Tony. I completed that run, and felt terrific. I’m now ready for the Jed Smith 50 K in February.